


diamonds and boats

by questionableatbest



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, also lots of swearing, super super low key enjoltaire like it's mentioned in passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 17:04:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6667048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionableatbest/pseuds/questionableatbest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“He-” Eponine cut herself off with a ragged laugh, burying her face in her hands and shrugging. “He asked me to marry him, and I jumped into a fucking river.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	diamonds and boats

Eponine was running and she knew that she shouldn’t be and she knew that she was completely and entirely wrong, but she couldn’t stop because she’d gone too far to turn back and things had stopped making sense three blocks ago, and then Grantaire’s shitty apartment was in sight and then she was in front of it, banging and banging on the door until he opened it and-

“Ep, what the hell happened?”

And she had no idea what to say, so she just stood there in her soaking wet clothes, panting and trying to catch her breath, until he ushered her inside and sat her down, and he was definitely still talking, but nothing he said made any sense until it did, and then all it took was one simple name to break her out of her trance.

“Jesus Christ Ep, I’m calling ‘Ferre.”

He was reaching for his phone and he really was going to call him, and that couldn’t happen, so Eponine finally spoke up, sounding far more haggard than she’d wanted to when only one word came out of her mouth: “No.”

And of course Grantaire misinterpreted that. “Ep, if he did something to hurt you I’ll-”

“He proposed.”

Grantaire froze as a look of surprise crossed his face. “Excuse me?”

“He-” Eponine cut herself off with a ragged laugh, burying her face in her hands and shrugging. “He asked me to marry him, and I jumped into a fucking river.”

“You- fucking hell.”

And then Eponine was laughing even harder but there was no humor in it at all, because there was absolutely nothing funny about ruining the best thing in your life. At least Grantaire seemed to get that, because he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders and waited until she was done with the hysterics before he spoke again.

“Eponine, I still don’t see why the fuck you jumped in the river.”

She scoffed, more at herself than at him. “Are you asking for the full story?”

“Definitely.”

“We were on a date,” Eponine smiled despite herself, thinking back to the night before when ‘Ferre had suggested it. They’d been technically dating for almost three years, but they’d stopped going on actual dates ages ago- around the time they’d moved in together- and she’d teased him like crazy about it. “A fucking date. In a park. And there were boats, so we rented a fucking boat. In a park. Who the fuck does that, you know?”

“Lots of people, actually,” Grantaire pointed out, which earned him an elbow in his side. “What?”

“I didn’t even know they had boats in the park; I thought those only existed in stupid rom coms with Katherine Heigl and- I don’t know- Jennifer Aniston or something,” Eponine groaned, not bothering to mention that she’d loved the boats; it was the kind of thing she’d spent her childhood imagining, before she gave up on relationships being anything but tedious. And then ‘Ferre had come around and been better than she’d ever dreamed of, and of course he had found the boats. “But we went in one anyways, and it was perfect, okay? It was nice and perfect, and then he pulled out a fucking ring.”

“Eponine.” Grantaire spoke softly and with far more kindness than she deserved, so Eponine looked away and pulled out of his half-hug, and kept talking.

“He pulled out a ring, and it was perfect too- god, there was a diamond, R. A fucking diamond. Who the fuck buys me something with a diamond?”

“Ep.”

“I couldn’t look at it, R. He- I’m just- he deserves so much better.”

“Ep.”

“I jumped in a fucking river because the man I love proposed. What’s wrong with me, R?”

This time he didn’t say anything at all and when, after a long silence, she looked back towards him with tears spilling out of her eyes, he just wrapped her in his arms and tucked her head underneath his chin, and held onto her until she stopped shaking.

Of course, it was still Eponine who was crying and, even at her worst, she had never been willing to accept help for very long, so she pulled away shortly and wiped at her eyes and then she didn’t know what to do, but she was grateful when Grantaire offered her a shower.

The water was so much warmer than the river had been, which really wasn’t a surprise at all, and she ended up staying in there for a lot longer than she’d intended, because she refused to turn the water off until all of her tears were shed.

And then she was done and there was a fresh towel and clean clothes waiting for her outside the door, and Grantaire was waiting for her in the kitchen with a new pot of coffee, and she found herself trying to figure out when he became the one who had his life together. When she said that out loud, he merely grinned.

“Sobriety works wonders, my friend,” he all but sung, as if she hadn’t been by his side during the first months, when he’d barely made it off his bathroom floor. Still, they didn’t talk about that anymore.

Instead, she grinned wryly, even though it felt like her face was going to shatter. “Is sobriety’s name Enjolras, by chance?”

Like she’d intended, Grantaire blushed, looking like he had a retort on the tip of his tongue, when his phone vibrated on the counter between them and Eponine looked down to see a picture she didn’t remember taking, of her sticking her tongue out obnoxiously, while Combeferre kissed her cheek. Grantaire seemed to gauge her reaction for a moment, before he reached out and put the phone on silence.

“Has he- does he know I’m here?”

“I think he’s guessing. I put your phone in rice, by the way- though it looks like you might need a new one…”

“Fuck.” But a water damaged phone was the least of her worries, and she knew it, and she knew that Combeferre deserved more than just being ignored, so she nodded towards Grantaire’s phone and asked, “Can I?” and when he didn’t object, she grabbed it and moved into a different room for some privacy.

She dialed his number before she could talk herself out of it and then the phone rang once, and then twice, and it was just long enough for her to imagine that he would ignore her entirely, before-

“Grantaire?”

“‘Ferre. It’s- me.”

She imagined his face turning to stone and she imagined him throwing the phone across the room and she imagined him yelling and screaming which was ridiculous because this was Combeferre, and he would never- could never do that, and when he spoke with far more concern than she deserved, all of her fears vanished.

“Ep- thank god,” he sighed, actually sounding relieved. “Are you alright?”

“I- yeah.” Her voice was soft and wavering and she had definitely been wrong before because there was no way she was finished crying, but she had to keep going, so she did. 

“‘Ferre?”

“Yes?”

“Are you at home?”

“Yes.”

“Can I-”

“Yes.”

“I- okay. I’m on my way.”

“I love you, Ep.”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> there's like an 80% chance that i'm going to write a part 2, because these two losers need to talk and i've already written most of it in my head so


End file.
